Avoid These 3 Habits to Have a Great School Year

Avoid These 3 Habits to Have a Great School Year

As temperatures and humidity levels peak and the month of August draws to a close, the thought of school starts to loom in the distance.

Whether you’re entering or finishing high school, trying to maintain your GPA for law school, or attempting the daunting task of writing a PhD dissertation, the end of August signals a new beginning – a time to review and reset resolutions.

Regardless of your age, school, or goals, there are common problems that plague all students. Distractions, procrastination, and poor time management are often the prime suspects in any loss of productivity, motivation, and success.

The good news is that often it’s not a lack of innate ability or resources that prevent you from achieving all your academic goals, but rather a simple need for improved strategy and technique.

Here at Freedom, we know you have what it takes to make this school year the most fulfilling yet, and we’re here to help.

THE 3 DEADLY SINS OF PRODUCTIVITY + HOW TO BEAT THEM

DISTRACTIONS

On average it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds for someone to get back on task once interrupted. When you consider that the average person checks their phone 110 times a day and social media 17 times a day – it’s no wonder we feel like we don’t get anything done. Distractions come in many forms, but for many of us our most tenacious distractions come in a digital format – whether tweets, timelines, or texts. Our digital technologies give us seemingly unlimited potential, but also unlimited opportunity for distraction.

Distraction can too often lead us down a path of multitasking. We scan the news, check our notifications and inboxes, and tweet, like, and comment all while doing work. We like feeling busy, but research has shown that multitasking can drastically reduce your productivity, and even lower your effective IQ by 10 points.

Freedom can help make the time you dedicate to studying and work as productive as possible by blocking your most distracting sites and apps across all your devices. Choose how long you want your block to last, select what you want to block, and let Freedom do the rest.

PROCRASTINATION

We all know what it’s like to feels like to think that tomorrow will be the day – the day to start the laundry, to finish that report, to start studying, to start exercising. Sometimes we procrastinate the small things, but often it’s the things that require the most mental and emotional energy that we put off. Research has shown that procrastination is actually about impulsivity – it’s about making a choice to feel good now rather than later. To add to the problem, our self-control is a finite resource. You may be able to say ‘no’ to watching an episode on Netflix now, but as the day goes on, this temptation becomes harder to resist.

Freedom can help you cut your emotions out of the equation. Instead of spending your day fighting the urge to do something other than the task at hand, Freedom can stop distractions before they get to you, and block you out of time-eaters. With Freedom you can also schedule blocks in advance to help you commit certain times to work and make productivity a habit.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Too often, feeling burnt out, stressed, or anxious are a result of poor time management. Although tests, deadlines, or presentations can trigger these negative emotions, most is likely caused by the feeling that you don’t have the time or energy needed to complete the task. Without a strategy or plan, squandered minutes can turn to hours.

One method of time management that we like here at Freedom is the Pomodoro Technique. Along with focusing on segmenting your time, the Pomodoro Technique advocates mono-tasking, reducing mental fatigue and burnouts, and creating a better life-work balance. With Freedom you can also schedule blocks in advance to work in tandem with your Pomodoro blocks to help you fight distraction and stay focused.

This year, whether starting school or trying to finish strong, don’t let distractions, procrastination, or time management be what gets in your way of doing what matters most.

What studying techniques have helped you the most? Let us know in the comments below!